A legal ‘scam’ is not actually a scam. It’s two way contract or form of it that will get you to pay more than you have to. Nowadays we all should be very careful about such contracts. I can bet that every single one of us has fallen for such a ‘scam’ during their lifetime. In order to prevent yourself for paying more than you have to, you need to be very careful what do you sign and agree for. For example a lot of credit card companies will get you to pay some sort of ‘service fee’ which can be as much as 50% of the credit limit. This has happened to me back in the days. I didn’t really read the terms of the contract that I signed and when I started using the card (which had $500 limit), I payed like $200 ‘Activation fee’ which was deducted from my account immediately. I tried to complain, but there was not much I could do about, since I had already enrolled and signed all the papers. So my personal advice here is always to read the terms and conditions of the contract you are signing. In the following article we have gathered some useful tips from people all around the world. You can read the whole discussion on Reddit.
1. The printing fee
We all hate the Printing maintenance fee for digital tickets. The only way you can avoid that is to print your ticket at home or ask to be sent via mail. For example if you go to the airport and ask there for your ticket to be printed the fee may be pretty high.
29. Data limits
In 21st century all data should be unlimited. If it happens for you to have a limit just cancel the contract asap and sign up with another provider. If you want to do them a favor be so kind to tell them the real reason you are canceling and maybe some day they will remove the limits or drop the prices.
3. Pay day loans
Some of the companies which give ‘pay day loans’ will make you pay 300% or more interest. If you need a ‘pay day loan’ badly you have to choose a reliable company and read the terms of your agreement really careful. Don’t sign agreement on such interest and find a better company.
4. Service charges
Unfortunately most of the time you will not be able to avoid service charges like this. For example if you want to avoid service charge for buying a movie ticket online you can get them from the cinema, but there is quite a chance that there will be no available seats. So, it’s up to you whether you will pay that fee and have a seat reserved or take your chances.
5. Parking in Hospitals
The best way to avoid getting charged for parking at the hospital is to park somewhere near (if it’s free) and to walk a block or two. If you really need to park at the hospital there is no way to avoid paying for parking. To avoid getting charged to withdraw money you can pay on POS terminal with a card or digital wallet.
6. The insurance company
When you get health insurance you should be very careful to read what does it cover and what does not. Usually higher insurance fees cover more than lower. If the insurance company tries to deny payment to the hospital make sure you have all the papers proving that it was necessary and talk to a lawyer.
7. The cable company
If your cable company is renting you a router you can avoid by calling and asking to use your own equipment. The bad part is that if you have a problem they will just tell you it’s your equipment and they can’t do anything about it. In that case you should get familiar how routers work and how to make appropriate settings.
8. The domain
This one is really old. They will make mails look like a legit one and make you pay for something that is useless to you. You will just be under the impression that you ‘have’ to pay it. In order to avoid those kind of scams you should ready the small letters carefully.
9. 80+ hours work week
In order to avoid this you should talk to the business owner about how many hours you will have to work and if more than 40 hours a week you should ask if overtime will be payed by law. If the owner avoid the question this is big red flag.
10. Paying convenience charges
As I mentioned above there is nothing much you can do about those charges except for buying a ticket when you get there, but there is a chance that all seats are taken.
11. Higher insurance price
Insurance prices are calculated on many factors and maybe one of most important is your driving record. Make sure you have a clean driving record with no speeding tickets and so on. The better your driving record is, the lower the price is.
12. Multi Level Marketing
Multi level marketing is something very old and is even prohibited by law in some countries. It basically makes you to sign up and become a distributor. In order to make some money you have to make your friends become distributors as well and so on. Don’t forget that there are fees on becoming one. That business model is pretty known and not many people fall for it these days, but in case you are not familiar the only way to ‘earn’ money for the fees you pay is to make your friends become distributors, which is not really good, because they will have to do the same with their friends and there is no happy ending in this game. Just stay away from MLM.
13. High health insurance price
Unfortunately there is nothing much you can when something like this happens. There is always a chance that the hospital will bill you for something that your insurance company does not cover. You should be very careful to read what you current insurance covers and what does not, so you can get prepared.
16. The ATM service charge
We all hate the ATM service charge and the only was you can avoid is to pay with card or use digital wallet. 95% of businesses take cards or digital wallets.
17. The estate agents
Charging to just open a door a thousands of dollars is not really a good thing. Fair real estate agents should also negotiate a price, offer legal advice and loan advice, so if you are going to use the services of a real estate agent make sure they are from a reputable company.
18. Medication Costs
The cost of the medication depends on the particular brand and manufacturer. It is always a good choice to ask for a cheaper alternative at the doctor’s office or at the pharmacy.
19. The housing market
Never ever fall for it when RE agent tell you that there is another buyer who is willing to pay more than you. Remember, if you buy house in a hurry you will most likely overpay or have problems with the house itself. So, take your time and don’t hurry.
20. Auto tips
I don’t really like auto tips either. The only way to avoid that is to read the menu carefully. Usually it’s written somewhere on the menu that the prices does not include tip or service fee which is % of the total bill. To avoid auto tips just don’t go to such places.
21. Entering info on the internet
Remember rule number 1. When you post something online, even if it is personal info, it is not yours anymore. Whatever information you put on the internet it will stay there forever, so just be careful what information you post.
22. The cookies choice
The truth here is that most of the websites require cookies in order to function properly. If you don’t want tracking cookies installed on your browser you can always add some anonymity plugin or use secure browsers. If you wonder which browser is secure enough just google ‘secure browser’ and there will be plenty of results.
23. Public service student loan repayment programs
The program essentially locks you into public sector jobs that typically don’t pay as well for 10 years of your career. You could be spending that time gaining skills in other fields that aren’t public sector, or making more money in another organization that may come out to more money than would be forgiven at the end of the 10 year period.
24. Funeral homes
I really hope that nobody will have to use such services anytime soon, but if it happens to do so you can always check with a couple of homes and ask how much their service will be. You can always chose the one that suits you the most.
25. Ski resort prices
Unfortunately it’s like that all over the world. To avoid getting charged for a whole day and use it only half just go early in the morning or if you sleep through the morning just find something else to do (like walking around or going to SPA) and go to sleep early, so you can wake up early in the morning and go.
26. Uber
This is part of the whole idea behind Uber. It gives you an estimate and based on many factors your price is calculated. One of the most important factor for good price is to have good reviews and rating overall.
27. It is a big debate
I am not a big crypto fan myself, that’s why I will advice you not to invest in one if you are not really familiar with the whole idea and blockchain technology as well.
28. Cancel DirecTVÂ
Of course that when you want to cancel a service the call will drop and they can make you wait for hours. When you are calling just make sure you choose the option for new service. That way you will trick the system into thinking that you will be buying another service and will connect you shortly and when connected explain that you have mistaken and would just like to cancel your service. It worked every time for me.
29. Debt collectors
By law this situation is unenforceable, but most of the debt collectors will want to make you believe that you will have to pay those money and try to get them from you. They can say anything to you in order to get you to pay. The best decision you can take in a case like that is not to return their calls and talk to a lawyer.
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